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The Center for Law and Social Justice at Medgar Evers College is a winner of the Brooklyn Community Foundation’s Annual Spark Prize, which recognizes exceptional nonprofits rooted in Brooklyn that advances racial and social justice. The center will receive $100,000 in general operating support from the foundation.

Philanthropy is many things, but at the core, it’s people making decisions about money.
For philanthropy to be effective, it matters who those people are, how they make those decisions, and who gets the money. In short, it’s about power and who has it.
It stands to reason, then, that thoughtful decision making will involve the people most affected by the problems that foundations are trying to solve. Yet this practice is far from the norm among foundations, especially larger ones.

Brooklyn Community Foundation launched its second annual Brooklyn Gives campaign Tuesday.
The 24-hour donation drive helps raise money for 20 not-for-profits serving the borough. For every dollar each organization raises, Brooklyn Community Foundation will match it, up to $5,000.
"There's phenomenal work happening and there's also real need, so what we want to say is let’s make Brooklyn generous to support Brooklyn communities through the work of these non-profits," said Cecilia Clarke, the president of Brooklyn Community Foundation.

Originally aired: November 28, 2017
Hosted by Ashley Ford.
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This video is from BRIC TV— the first 24/7 television channel created by, for, and about Brooklyn. It is the borough's source for local news, Brooklyn culture, civic affairs, music, arts, sports, and technology. BRIC TV features programming produced and curated by BRIC, an arts and media nonprofit located in Downtown Brooklyn, NYC.

New York’s well-heeled philanthropic groups are doling out big bucks to resist President Trump’s immigration policies and defend targeted social welfare and environmental programs.
The Brooklyn Community Foundation created a $1 million Immigrant Rights Fund to support “civil resistance” efforts to battle Trump’s executive order banning travelers from seven Muslim majority countries and to aid illegal immigrants who fear deportation.

"This week we are in the CEO corner with David Nocenti, executive director of Union Settlement, who did some research into the wide range of reimbursements he was receiving from New York City’s Department for the Aging to provide the same services across his four senior centers. We talk about what he thinks the city and other nonprofits should be doing to draw attention to the issue.

Many charities in New York and around the country saw a surge in donations after the presidential election, a proactive stance taken by those who fear how the poor and marginalized might suffer under the Trump administration. A few board members of the Brooklyn Community Foundation quickly came together to seed an immigrants’ rights fund to support Brooklyn residents with $600,000 pledged so far. In the Brooklyn district of City Councilman Carlos Menchaca, neighbors came together to host dinners for undocumented immigrants to better help them understand their rights. Who is going to make fun of Brooklyn now?

Article Excerpt:
A number of forces factor into the gentrification phenomenon — a major influx of migrants in search of modestly priced housing and the American Dream, an ever-growing wealth divide among the city’s population, and statistically safer neighborhoods than ever before, to name a few. The top of the pile, however, is simply supply and demand.